


A cup of tea

by The Sign of Tea (NoPlastic)



Series: Tumblr ficlets - Johnlockary [7]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Multi, Polyamory, post-tab
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-07-21 14:11:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7390390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoPlastic/pseuds/The%20Sign%20of%20Tea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock comes back to 221b. John leaves. Mary makes tea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A cup of tea

“Why are you still here?”

Sherlock’s voice sounded gruff and weary. He sat in the kitchen, his elbows on the table, running his hands through his curls.

Throughout the car ride from the tarmac back to Baker Street, including the stop at St. Bart’s for a health checkup, even while climbing up the stairs to 221b, he’d rambled on and on about Moriarty and how the drug-induced dream about Victorian London proved that the criminal was dead, definitely dead, and which steps had to be taken next to track down whoever was responsible for the video messages.  
Soon after they’d entered the flat, however, the detective seemed to have left his dynamic and talkative persona on the rack with his coat. Strangely silent and absent-minded, he’d sat through John’s inevitable rant as if it was directed at somebody else, until John slammed the door and left in frustration.

“To make you tea,” Mary answered his question as she placed a steaming mug on the table in front of him, and sat down with her own mug in the other chair.

“Tea doesn’t just miraculously appear, as you probably think,” she went on, just to have something to say. “Since Mrs. Hudson is away visiting a friend, and you probably wouldn’t make tea for yourself, and you definitely _need_ a cup of tea – I thought somebody should be here to do it for you.”

“Mrs. Hudson has friends?” Sherlock spoke more to his teacup than to Mary.

“Oh, yes. John already told you she was away, when we were waiting for the doctor at St. Bart’s. Don’t you remember?”

“Must’ve filtered…”

He took a sip of his tea and frowned as if it was the most disgusting drink he’d ever tasted.

“You forgot to add milk,” Mary reminded him gently. “You always take milk.”

Sherlock shook his head and kept angrily sipping the black, unsweetened tea.

“You should go to bed and try to get some sleep. You look terribly tired, and we don’t want you to –.”

“Why do you even still care?” Sherlock interrupted her brusquely. “Didn’t you hear what John said? I’m not a detective at all, my deductions are the drug-fueled fantasies of a madman, and he doesn’t believe in me anymore. He’s disappointed, and you’ll only be even more disappointed if you stay with me any longer. Do yourself a favour and go back to your husband and your simple little life, Mary. You don’t need me.”

“He never called you a madman.”

She smiled and touched his arm gently with her fingertips.

“He was angry with you for putting your own life at risk, that’s all.”

Sherlock rolled his eyes at her, pulled his arm away, and fell silent again. For a while, the only sounds in the flat were Mary’s breath when she blew on her tea, and the chink of Sherlock’s spoon when he gave in and poured some milk in his cup and stirred.

Mary drank her fruit tea in small sips and thought about the baby, as she often did. What would it feel like to be a mother? She’d never thought of herself that way. Together with John, she would manage.  
Just when she thought of her husband, her phone buzzed, and there was a text from him.

_I’m home. JW_

_Have you calmed down a bit? MW_

_A bit. Starting to feel sorry. Almost. How long are you planning to stay? JW_

_I don’t know. He looks like death, and I’m tired. You don’t have to wait for me. Go to sleep. I’ll get a cab. MW_

_Fine. Call me if you need anything. I love you. JW_

_We love you, too. MW_

_We. You and the baby, or you and Sherlock? JW_

_All three of us. MW_

_< 3_

_It’s mutual. But don’t tell him. JW_

She glanced up from the screen with a smile.

“John says he loves you,” she said in a casual voice, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

It took a few seconds until Sherlock realized what she’d just said. The look on his face was priceless, and Mary started to giggle.

“No, he doesn’t,” he said when he found his voice again.

“Yes, he does,” Mary replied and held the screen of her phone in front of his eyes.  
He tried to grab the phone, but she took it out of his reach. With something between a laugh and a battle cry, Sherlock jumped up and attacked her. He seemed to forget his exhaustion for the moment while he tried to get the phone out of her hands.  
They were so close to each other suddenly. She felt his long fingers around her wrists, and his breath on her skin. Their “fight” would have looked serious to an observer, but in fact Sherlock was extremely careful. He didn’t forget at all that she was pregnant, and carefully avoided doing anything that could hurt her.    
She let him win, but when he finally had the phone, he didn’t look at it. His silvery eyes locked with hers, and she knew they were thinking the same.

“John?” he whispered.

“He knows,” she said. “It’s fine.”

Their lips touched only for a moment, soft and rough at once. It was not much, but it was the beginning of everything.


End file.
